new hard disk want to copy old hard disk

[skha]

Hi,
I have bought a new hard disk. I want to copy everything from my old hard disk to my new hard disk. But i also want the operating system and partitions to copy as well is this possible?
Would it work if connected them both up and then set the bios to "raid 1" would the new hard disk mirror the old one?
thanks in advance
shah

[Reaps]

If you don't like partition magic (i went off it when they got taken over) then try acronis ( www.acronis.com ) they have a comparable product called disk director and another one for backup/cloning hard drives called true image.

I know one of them does what you look for from experience i.e. copying the entire structure of the hard drive but i can't remember which one. Creating a raid (mirroring) wouldn't do what you are looking for as far as i'm aware.

[peterb]

drive2drive/caspar works well... (Caspar is the Win2k/XP version - do a Google search on drive2drive)

[UltraMagnus]

or download knoppix and use DD

[Speed]

What make is the new hard drive? Most companies have their own DOS based setup software. If its Western Digital then they have a very good bootable setup programme, it guides you easily through it and then copies the files from the old drive on to your new drive. If it's another make check out their website, they should have something similar.

[skha]

Hi,
It is Western digital, How do you do the copying ?
Thanks
shah

[Speed]

http://support.wdc.com/download/inde...id=999&swid=23

Download that, create a bootable floppy from the download. Then make sure both the new and old drives are connected, boot from the floppy disc and follow the instructions. It's pretty simple, just make sure to setup the new drive as C: not additional storage and it should copy the files at the end of the process. Once done, just unplug the old drive and it should boot from the new one, then just check everything is alright and present.

Although it's always worked for me, it's common sense to backup your important data first! Saying that however, the data will still be on your old drive after you finish.

Hope this helps!